Star Wars Obi-Wan

The thugs, a motley crew of aliens, come in from three sides, laser pistols drawn. One raises its arm, and fires. A flick of the wrist and your lightsaber snaps to intercept the shot, throwing it back at the gunman. The deflected shot hits him dead in the chest and now there is one less adversary.

You notice that another is standing at the edge of a platform, 15 feet from your position. You summon the Force, and the very air seems to blast away from you, knocking the enemy into oblivion. One remains, again some distance away. Not a problem for one trained in the ways of the Jedi. You hurl your lightsaber, like a spinning boomerang, striking the target before returning back to your hand.

That distraction aside, it’s time to return to the mission.

Star Wars: Obi-Wan, an Xbox release from LucasArts, combines some arcade gaming into a 15-level role-playing format that explores the underbelly of Coruscant and traverses the galaxy to Tatooine and Obredaan to face a new enemy, the Jin’ha.

The time frame for the game is in the weeks prior to the Trade Federation invasion of Naboo.

As a Padawan (or Jedi in training), Obi-Wan is still perfecting his skills, and yet Qui-Gon Jinn is not averse to sending him off on missions, giving him a chance to test and perfect his powers. The first seems simple enough – stop the Black Heth (a powerful group of thugs on Coruscant) from waylaying an arriving shuttle. To do this, you must battle your way through a barrage of attackers and unblock the tracks closely guarded by a horde of these thugs. However after accomplishing this task, the Jedi Council becomes aware of a more sinister threat, and once again Obi-Wan is sent into the fray.

The game is divided into five chapters: Coruscant and the Black Heth, Into the Den of the Jin’ha, The Trade Federation, Tatooine, and Theed (which is the capital city of Naboo).

Along the way Obi-Wan will meet up with Qui-Gon, Naboo resistance fighters, Asha (a palace servant), and Mace Windu (a senior member of the Jedi Council). The villains include the Black Heth, Jin’ha, and more deadly droids than you can shake a wrench at. Oh, and there is a Tusken war chief and Darth Maul waiting in the wings, in case you get complacent.

There are several ways to play this game. You can launch the RPG, go into training, or partake in a friendly Jedi battle – wherein Jedi knights get to take a whack at each other in various arenas.

The controls of this game are quite tricky and take some time to get used to. For that reason it is wise to start in the training room. There you will learn to execute a lightsaber throw, Force push, Force disarm, as well as maneuvering during a Force jump. As can be imagined, a Jedi relies heavily on interacting with the Force, not only for battle, but for survival in hostile environments.

Obi-Wan will have the opportunity to collect grenades (fire, ion and concussion), a rifle and Trade Federation cannon (yep, doesn’t seem very Jedi-like), as well as numerous health, Force and invincibility power-ups, and an exploration marker. Each mission has awards, which will be bestowed if players are able to accomplish certain levels of skill during an assignment. The scoring categories are for lightsaber accuracy, use of the Force, attempts (dying or failing to achieve the objective), exploration (snagging the exploration markers), and time.

Graphically the game is well done. The characters may be a little blocky, but the animation, effects and environments are very good. And, of course, the audio immediately identifies the game as being from the Star Wars realm.

The actual missions have a sense of urgency about them which, when coupled with the seemingly endless battle opportunities and increasing challenges, make for a game that will keep players coming back for more.

This program works on a couple of levels: for Star Wars aficionados this is a joyous return to that galaxy far, far away, and for RPG fans, it is a nice console romp through a universe with a complex and consistent storyline.

This game is rated Teen for violence.

Gameplay: 8.8
The levels are rather big and well designed, and the action is nonstop. As a rule of thumb, if you head off in one direction and don’t encounter any opposition, chances are you are heading in the wrong direction.

Graphics: 8.5
The characters may seem a little blocky, but the environments and special effects are very well done.

Sound: 9
How can you tell you are playing a Star Wars game? Just listen.

Difficulty: 7
There is definitely a learning curve to this game. The controls take getting used to, and each mission is rated, or scored. If you don’t like your rating, you can repeat levels to improve that. However, while the onslaught of foes may vary, this game is very linear in that you have to accomplish the same thing, in the same way, to succeed.

Concept: 8.5
Episode I introduced Star Wars fans to the realm before the advent of Luke Skywalker. The tale told in this game predates Episode I. Star Wars tries to present a consistent storyline, and this game does a nice job of that. It also does an excellent job of incorporating the RPG with some arcade-style gameplay.

Multiplayer: 7.8
This incorporates the tools you have learned as a Jedi in a one-on-one battle. For fans of Star Wars, this is a treat; for others, it is merely an average exercise.

Overall: 8.8
This game is not as visually impressive as Star Wars Starfighter, but, of course, that was a different genre for the Xbox. While this program might not be as intense as Halo, it will be a definite delight for Star Wars fans, and should even satisfy those who are RPG fans.